RASPBERRY FLIRTINI AFTERMATH
by antai
Summary: This is my first time writing fanfic, but i was so frustrated with the explanation they gave in the show that i just had to write it for myself, hope you like it.
1. Chapter 1

RASPBERRY FLIRTINI AFTERMATH- Chapter 1

Hanna got out of the shower and looked at the mirror, her hair definitely looked better without raspberry flirtini on it, although after that botched hair dye from last season it had never been the same. She then remembered what she had to do for her friend, she didn't like it but it had to be done.

She quickly texted Em:

_- gotta talk to you…see you tomorrow at the brew before school ? 7.30?_

_- Sure , everything OK?_

_- Yep, just need to talk, see you then_

_- Ok, good night!_

Everything was not OK, Hanna huffed at the idea of seeing Paige with that girl, they just started trusting her and now this! Spencer was right all along! She could almost hear Spencer's "I told you so"

Next morning..

It was 7:30 am and Emily was already sitting at the table with their usual order reading a book… also, as usual, Hanna was late. When she arrived Emily lifted her eyes up, she looked concerned…Poor Em, Hanna thought, she hated that she had such a bad luck with girlfriends, when she was the sweetest person.

- hey Hanna, what's up, are you ok?

- Sure, sure, mmm.. how are you ?(Hanna was trying to think a good way to start this conversation, as if there was one)

- All good, so what did you want to talk about exactly?… is it about last night? Did your mom get angry?

- Well, just a little but I explained everything to her, I didn't drink.

- mmm then is it about Caleb? Spencer? Mmm Mona?

- No, well, mmmm…. Do you remember the other day when I had you follow Caleb?

- Mmmmm… yes? Oh no, please don't tell me you caught him cheating! I'm so sorry Hanna, I'm gonna kill him! (Emily looked angry and scary)

- No no not all! (Hanna thought this was the worst, it was actually Em being cheated on)

- Oh… I thought… oh..oh, I'm so relieved

- Well I, actually I have been following Paige

- What!

- Yeah, well I heard Caleb talking to her about meeting someone so I followed her thinking I would find what Caleb was up to..

- Ok, and?

- And I followed her into a bar.

- A bar? What would Paige be doing in a bar? Was this the bar were you had the fight?

- A lesbian bar

- What ! (Emily almost choked with her coffee)

- What the hell Hanna! There are no lesbian bars in rosewood!

- Well, yeah, mmmm I know that, it was Thursday's girl's night...

- Are you kidding me? This is not funny at all.

- No Em, I'm not, I didn't tell you last night because I was in trouble already with the underage drinking and all that.

- Well I'm sure Paige has an explanation for that… was she meeting Caleb at this bar? That's weird!

- Em, no, she was meeting someone else..

(Emily fell silent)

- I got into the bar and I saw her with a girl

- Who?

- I didn't know her.

(Emily swallowed, she felt her chest compress and it was difficult to breathe)

- What were they doing?

(Hanna lowered her eyes, this was horrible, she hated Paige so much right now)

- They were talking.

- Just talking? Like friends? (Emily looked miserable)

- No, not just like friends…. Em, I am sooo sorry about this… I had to tell you.

- Did they kiss, did she see you? (Em's eyes looked frozen but watery)

- No, I didn't see that, they didn't see me, I hid…. And then I got the drink thrown at me by that other girl.. Em, you have to talk to her. (Hanna hated Paige right now and would have gladly punched her , but she knew she had to give Emily the chance… to do it herself)

- (Emily composed herself, she was so much stronger after all that had happened to her) well, thanks Hanna, for telling me , I do have to talk to her, I want to hear this from her.

- I will go all taekwondo on her if you tell me (Emily smiled sadly, she was so strong now Hanna thought)

- It's Ok, I will handle it

- Ok, are you sure?

- Yep, let's go, it's almost time for first period.

- Ok, Hanna hugged Em and Emily hugged her back


	2. Chapter 2

RASPBERRY FLIRTINI AFTERMATH - Chapter 2

They rushed to get to class, and they made it on time but Emily couldn't stop thinking about what Hanna had just said. She was sad, angry, confused and then some part of her thought this probably was a misunderstanding and that Paige was not doing what Hanna said, after all, she trusted Paige completely, she knew her… didn't she?

The hours went by and it was lunch time… Paige had a meeting with her recruiter so they wouldn't have lunch together and Emily didn't know if that was good or bad.

Emily sat quietly while Hanna talked about clothes and certainly was trying to lighten things up. She had promised not to tell Aria or Spencer until she had cleared it with Paige. Aria was sad because of the whole Ezrakid situation and Spencer was mostly absent in her own mind, she was taking this Toby breakup so hard and they were all so worried for her, that it almost made Emily think she was better knowing what Paige exactly did and having the chance to confront her than whatever had happened with Spencer and Toby.

Emily got a text from Paige while she was in math seminar… it was a good thing that Emily had to put and extra effort to concentrate on math, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to momentarily forget about Paige's text

- _Hello babe! I hate fridays like this when we have separate classes, I don't get to see you!_

Emily rolled her eyes and she was glad the intensive math seminar was 3 hours long with 3 in-classroom breaks… it was very difficult but worth the effort for the extra credit…back to concentrate in differential equations.

When it was time for break, Emily went back to the non-math world and thought about her options, a couple of years back she would have cried her eyes out and would have been depressed and miserable, but this new confident Emily was different, she had to talk to Paige right away, she was very angry and confused, but she thought she had to do things right and be the mature one.. if indeed Paige had… (she stopped herself from thinking the words)

She texted Paige back

- _Been busy with the seminar, how was the meeting with the recruiter?_

Paige almost jumped off her seat when her phone biped, she saw the text was from Emily and then she quickly read it and read it again… Emily was not this cold even when texting… she was always warm… Could she? Paige nodded, no no she couldn't know, she was careful, but she did feel kind of guilty, and she hated doing that to Emily and to Shana… even if it was for a good cause… protecting Emily from Mona. She hated Caleb for a minute, why couldn't he go out with Shana? She half- smiled to herself, she knew why that wouldn't work..

Maybe Emily was just very busy with the seminar, yeah that was probably it, she replied:

- _It went very good, but I'm not sure if this is the right option for me yet…I'll tell you all about it in the afternoon. what do you want to do, movies, dinner, both?_

Emily got the text and did not open it until the next break. It's always better sooner than later she thought, whatever Paige was doing she would have to explain, and then she would decide what to do…

- _no I don't think so, better if we meet at my house at 7 ?_

Paige replied right away

- _oh ok, I love house too! ; ) cant wait!_

Emily rolled her eyes again and she tightened up her fist as she felt the blood rising to her head.. Dammit Paige! why did she have to go and screw around when what they had was so good!

After school Emily went straight home avoiding any contact with Paige, after that cynical text she was so angry she was not sure she could control herself if she saw her.


	3. Chapter 3

RASPBERRY FLIRTINI AFTERMATH- CHAPTER 3

Paige was pacing around her room waiting, she wanted to see Emily so bad, she missed her so much, specially after last night. She hated doing it, but both she and Caleb knew that was the only way to get Shana to talk and find out who rented that damn costume. Caleb had tried calling the shop and pretending to be someone interested in renting it but the guy had told him they always took their privacy policy very seriously and that he was offended he would offer money. Why did it have to be such a honest owner! Caleb also tried to hack the computer but all the customer registry for Halloween time was wiped out.

So the only option left was Shana…

Shana was a nice girl, they had gone out a few times but nothing had clicked and after Emily was back, Shana was nothing more than a friend.

Paige almost felt dirty after asking her out to the girl's night at the bar… She had chosen a loud and obvious place so they could talk just enough and not too much, plus she knew that Emily or Emily's friends would never go out to such a place.

She then remembered she had to erase the texts she had sent Shana on Thursday so there was no chance Emily would look at them. Paige read them one last time as if to make herself feel more embarrassed. She nodded.

- _Hey Shana! how are you?_ DELETE

- _Mmm well well hello there… long time. Good! How have you been. DELETE_

- _All good here, listen I was wondering if you would like to catch up, maybe go out tonight._ DELETE

- _What … McCullers are you telling me you're single again?_ DELETE

- _Well yeah, u know sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't_ MOST DEFINITELY DELETE

- _Right , well I'm not free tonight sorry _DELETE

- _Oh come on, there is a girls night today at some bar not too far from here, we'll have fun!_ DELETE

- _Mmmmm _DELETE

- _oh come on you know im fun ; ) _THIS ONE WAS THE MOST EMBARRASING DELETE DELETE DELETE

- _Ahhhh! Okay okay if you insist_ DELETE

- _I am, pick you up at 830_? DELETE

- _Fine! = )_

The whole night was weird and awkard and Paige felt terrible, but she had to have her game face on and she was very nice to Shana, after all it was not her fault. They talked and Shana had some cocktails and got very chatty, while Paige tried to get her to talk about her job, Shana was more into talking about music and non work stuff, so Paige decided it was enough of pretending for one night and offered to take her home… It was a whole challenge not to offend Shana when she tried to get closer to Paige before getting off the car, but she managed to get out of it somehow.

When Paige got home after the whole bar charade she immediately called Caleb to vent out and almost screamed at him. Caleb just said she had done a good job and reminded her that this was for Hanna and Emily (as if Paige would ever forget). She would do anything for Em, even lie to her.. but it still made her feel very very guilty.

She had to remind herself that all this was to protect Emily from Mona and her minions and that finding out who had rented the red queen costume would give them one more clue to find out who else was behind it.

Paige looked at her watch, 645 pm , time to go meet Emily!

She grabbed her coat and helmet and headed out the door when she got a text

_- Have to cancel, Spencer crisis, sorry._

Paige smile disappeared immediately. She knew about Spencer and Toby breaking up, she understood how down Spencer would probably feel, if Em broke up with her she was sure she would be much worse… Still she was disappointed she would not get to see her that night

Paige texted Emily back

- _It's ok , I understand, raincheck tomorrow?_

_- Ok, see you for breakfast? _

- _oh , I can't have to go with my mom to pick some furniture, early_

- _Ok, then see you at 2 pm, my house?_

- _Done!_ _Have fun tonight LOL_

- _Right_

Paige went back to her room and called Caleb to discuss what they had planned for saturday morning.


	4. Chapter 4

RASPBERRY FLIRTINI AFTERMATH - Chapter 4

Emily was doing push-ups in her bedroom… She found it calming, after Paige's last text she needed to blow some steam off in order to be calm enough to talk to her without exploding.

She was concentrating on nothing but her breathing when her phone rang. It was Hanna.

- Hi Em

- Hi

- Did you break her legs?

Emily laughed, Hanna always knew how to break the tension.

- Not yet, I'm picking up my 9 iron from storage, I'm meeting her in a bit.

- Oh, well I'm kinda glad you haven't yet, I don't know if I can deal with one more of you feeling miserable

- Mmmm.. I don't know I'm not exactly….

- Well, I kinda need your help dealing with the other two, I think Spencer is not well at all, she texted me asking about the name of the dry shampoo

- That is not Spencer at all, I'm scared.

- I know! Aria and I were planning to go and get her out of her house and have a little sleepover at my house to cheer her up. We kind of need your help in case she gets stubborn… you're the strongest.

- Ok, yeah

- But if you need to talk to Paige first..

- No, I will do it tomorrow, Spencer is priority now

Emily was kind of glad and relieved to postpone the talk, she was not feeling up to it, in the state she was it was very possible that she didn't stay very calm and mature as she wanted

- I'm on my way.

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Caleb picked Paige up early on Saturday and they had some breakfast on their way to Philly. Paige kind of liked spending time with Caleb, they actually had a lot of things in common besides wanting _them _to be safe.

- So tell me more about this guy and how can he help us with this.

Paige took out a little bag and dangled it, it was the fake nail "A" lost in the train, Paige had kept it after Spencer asked her to look for a match among the people exiting the train, Paige always took it as an act of trust more than anything else

- It's gross isn't it?

- Uhm yeah

- Well this guy used to work in crime scenes in Philly, he now works as some sort of investigator, he says he can help us get more info like the material, supplier and estimate the size of the hand.

- Where do you meet this people?

- Online forums

- Really?

- Yeah you can do a lot in online forums

- I bet

They both chuckled and Paige suddenly could see the outline of the city ahead.

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Emily went back home around noon after leaving Spencer at her house and making sure she would be OK by herself. She had avoided thinking about Paige as much as possible, but now it was time to face it.

She was practicing the conversation mentally after getting ready when her phone rang, it was Paige.

- Hello?

- Hi Em

- Hi…

- Listen, I think I will not be able to make it at 2, I'm still with my mom in Philly, this is taking much longer than expected…

- Oh ok

- I'm sorry, I will call you as soon as I'm back home, I…

- Say hi to your mom for me (Of course Emily thought right there that she was probably not with her mom )

- Ahmmm yeah I will, see you later, byebye

- Bye

Paige hung up and looked at Caleb

- That went well didn't it?

- Mmm I'm not too sure, I think she's mad because I canceled.

- Hanna wasn't too happy either

- How much longer can this take?

- I hope not too long (they both looked at the geeky guy that was on the phone talking to someone)

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Emily hung up and kicked the air, now she was mad, Paige lying to her in her face like that, how could she do that? She was mostly angry but then she felt sad too. She couldn't understand, wasn't she enough for Paige?

And then it clicked, probably Paige needed to get away from the whole "A" thing, probably she had met someone that gave her what she deserved without all the drama. She had put her in danger, she had anxiety attacks, she was not well, it was understandable to want to get away from all of it and have a normal life, but why did she have to go behind her back?

"Stop Emily, stop thinking about this and making yourself feel guilty, you have to talk to her first".

Emily felt like a stalker, but she couldn't go longer without knowing the truth, so she waited for Paige in her car outside her house but around the corner so she couldn't see her thanks to the tall hedge. She had waited for an hour, and she was getting bored, Hanna was busy with Aria, and Spencer was laconic as it was usual for her these days.

Suddenly, a car noise startled her, she got out of the car and hid behind the bushes, she thought she would either see Paige with her mom or she would catch Paige with that girl, but what she saw surprised her quite a bit. She saw Paige getting out of…. Caleb's car?


	5. Chapter 5

RASPBERRY FLIRTINI AFTERMATH - Chapter 5

Paige got off the car, and waved at Caleb

- Talk to you later, bye

She walked to her front porch and as soon she was going to turn the key in, she felt a tap on the shoulder, she jumped and turned around to see Emily looking at her with a look she had never saw in her, a mix of angry, sad, disappointed and curious.

- Shit! You scared me Em!

- Yeah shit is the right word

- Where is your mom? Oh let me guess, your parents are out this weekend..

- I…

- What were you doing with Caleb?

- I… I'm sorry, I..

- Why did you lie to me?

- No, it's not like that, I.. let..

- Are you cheating on me?

Paige felt like a bucket of ice water had fell over her. Shit, shit, shit, she had really messed up this time.

- Let's go in (she opened the door for Emily)

- Are you cheating on me?

- No

- Please tell me the truth Paige, at least you owe me that. Who is she?

Paige walked into the living room and sat on the couch trying to think a way out of all of this mess, she saw that Emily followed her with teary eyes and she felt terrible.

Paige was just about to speak, when Emily cut her off.

- Listen to me, I understand why you would want to look anywhere else, after all that has happened to us, to you, I understand that you don't want to be involved any more, I really do, but why did you have to lie to me? You could have told me you wanted to see other people.

- No Em, I would nev….

- Please, Hanna saw you at the bar with her and told me… are you going to deny it?

Paige mentally slapped herself, how could she have been so stupid and careless?

- Please Em, let me talk, let me explain, please.

Emily remembered that she had promised she would stay calm and let Paige explain herself.

- Go ahead

- First, I would never cheat on you, never, I… lo… I ...' m so sorry this got way out of hand and..

- Then what, you were going out just as friends and you forgot to tell me?

Paige was silent, she had to come clean about everything, otherwise it could affect the most important relationship in her life.

- Ok, I'll tell you everything, but promise me you'll let me finish.

- Fine

- Her name is Shana, and yes I did go out with her…. mmm… not just as friends. I felt, feel terrible about it, but I had to do it (Emily was looking at her with cold eyes now) . You see, she works at the costume shop, so I needed to talk to her to get information about something.

Emily still looked at her without expression so Paige knew she had to say more.

- Ok, Caleb and I, hmmm we have been trying to, we have to find out who is working with Mona, so we can make sure she never bothers any of you again, so we had to find out who rented the red queen costume and the only way was through Shana.

Now Emily's eyes were wide open.

- Have you lost your mind ?!

- You have to understand, I have to make sure you are safe and the only way is finding who else is with Mona, we've been working on it for a while.

- Paige, have you learned nothing? Messing with " A" or Mona or whoever is behind it, is very very dangerous!

- I just can't stand there and do nothing when she's loose out there, I cannot wait until something else happens to you. And I can take care of myself.

- Right, last week you had a panic attack.

- I realized the only way to fight my fear, of losing you, was to confront it and do something about it.

- You're not Batman

- I know, but I'm your girlfriend.

Emily smiled a bit and Paige felt like a ton of bricks had been lifted off her.

- I'm sorry you had to find out this way, it was stupid, I'm stupid, I'm trying to protect you and now I've hurt you.

- We'll it was not the smartest move Paige. (Paige just lowered her eyes)

- Why couldn't you just talk to this girl, why did you have to go out with her? And how the hell do you know her anyways!

- Mmmm … I know Shana since last year, when you left, after… you know, I had been talking to her online and then we went out a couple of times

- Right

Emily felt a rush to the head that was different from anger … it was pure jealousy.

- Nothing serious, I mean, I never liked her like that, we were nothing more than friends, but she is nice, I used to talk to her once in a while to talk about you.(Paige blushed). I found out she was working at the costume shop.

- And then you called her?

- Yeah… we tried to get the info from elsewhere but the owner of that shop is like the most private man ever and he has the same policy for their employees and their customers… who would have thought?

- So the "only" way was going out with her… to a lesbian bar?

- We'll I didn't want to go to a quiet place or a very public place either and I had to make sure she would be talkative, cocktails do that.

- Hanna saw you talking with her and mmmm she said you were more than just talking.

Paige was so embarrassed now.

- I was just flirting a bit.

- Just that? Nothing happened?

- No, I swear

- Ok I trust you, but I'm not happy about it, not one bit.

Paige lowered her head again after hearing that.

- You still trust me after all that?

- I do, but don't think you're off the hook, I'm still not happy

- I'm sorry, I will promise I will never do that again and I will make it up to you.

- All I want is for you not to do anything stupid or risky, messing with Mona is not the way, believe me I know.

- We have a plan and we have some clues already.

- Yeah, we'll see about that.

- So do you forgive me?

- Yes I do, but next time you want to go to a lesbian bar you tell me and I'll go with you.

Emily chuckled, she was not mad anymore, somehow she had always known deep inside that there had to be some kind of explanation that sort of made sense.

- I'm reminding you, I'm still mad.

- I know…. Em … I only have eyes for you.

- You better.

Emily got closer to Paige and kissed her.

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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx That was it, i hope you liked it and thanks for reading ! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


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